Amazing Italy

Today was our third day of Italian class. It's astounding how much you can learn in the course of 4 hours. We ultimately focused on vocabulary you need to know when shopping in a market for either clothes or food. I think the best part of today's class was going to the central market near San Lorenzo. I think you can find just about anything there. They had tons of fresh meats, cheeses, breads, pasta, wine, and produce. Outside you could fine belts, purses, scarves every color, size, and style, key chains, shoes, jewelry, magnets, etc. It was incredible. The prices are pretty reasonable, but you can always bargain...at least on accessories and clothing. Once it cools off, I will definitely be going back to load up on scarves. :)

I think yesterday activities were among my favorite since I've been here. Everyone from the ACM program met up at the school in the afternoon for a brief history lesson about the development of Firenze (Florence) before heading out to the Piazzale Michelangelo. The piazzale is on a cliff/hill overlooking the Firenze cityscape. It's absolutely goregous from up there. You can see the Fiume Arno (the river), the top of the Duomo, Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, and everything in between. I took tons of pictures which are coming soon (they take forever to upload and my computer time is limited). From the Piazzale we headed up the hill a little ways to the Basilica di San Miniato which also looks out over Florence. The basilica is actually also a monastery. The artistic details of both the interior and exterior of the building are superb. It's as if you can feel the history and granduer of the place. I really enjoyed hearing about the history of the basilica. What fun!

In just a few hours, my roommate Mackenzie and I will be moving in with our host family. I don't know to much about them other than they are from Southern Italy and are very nice. More details to come soon enough.

I'm absolutely loving my time here!